Prison time does little to deter domestic violence perpetrators from re-offending, new research by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has revealed.

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"We found no difference at all in the rate of re-offending, the rate of domestic violence re-offending between those who got a suspended sentence, that's the threat of imprisonment if they play up, and those who actually went to prison," BOCSAR director Dr Don Weatherburn said.

"In both groups, 20.3 per cent of them committed another domestic violence offence within 12 months."

The study compared more than 1,600 pairs of offenders, who were alike in as many ways as possible; socio-economic background, race, prior history and level of violence.

The difference being that one person out of each pair had been given a suspended sentence and the other had been sent to prison for up to 12 months.

"It's obvious that if you want to reduce domestic violence, you're going to have to look at other options, besides simply locking people up,'' Dr Weatherburn said.

''I'm not suggesting for a minute that people who commit serious domestic violence offences shouldn't be imprisoned. My point is really that that may serve the interests of justice, but it certainly won't reduce the rate of re-offending.''

In 2010, Mr Arbrahimzadeh's father followed through on a threat and murdered his mother.

This came after he, his siblings, and his mother endured years of violence at his hands.

''My dad had threatened violence, he had stalked us, he had been following us for some time before he finally managed to carry out his threats back in 2010 and finally killed my mum in front of hundreds of witnesses," he explained.

''From when I was young I saw the abuse, the disrespectful behaviour, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, verbal abuse, financial abuse, every form of abuse.

''As you can imagine, domestic violence covers a wide spectrum of abuse. It can be from disrespect right through to the peak of the spectrum which is murder."

Prison terms important to keep families safe

Mr Arbrahimzadeh is now a White Ribbon Day advocate, Our Watch ambassador, co-founder of the Zahra Foundation Australia and 2016 Young Australian of the Year National Finalist.

He feels very strongly that prison sentences are important for keeping families safe but said it was equally important that domestic violence perpetrators were rehabilitated once they were imprisoned.

Otherwise, he believes prison is only a short-term fix.

''So what happens when this perpetrator gets out, are they going to re-offend?," he asked.

"Have they changed their behaviour or their minds or their perspective on violence and abuse?

''There are a number of things that we haven't really considered," he said.

''We've only just thought about the short-term fix, which is putting these perpetrators away.

"But in terms of thinking four, five, 10 years down the track, or in some cases where there is manslaughter or attempted murder, when these perpetrators get out in 15, 20, 25 years time well what's going to happen with them? And I guess more importantly what's going to happen to the victim's family?"